ST. PAUL, Minn. — As hard as it’s been for the Minnesota Wild to generate a goal the past two months, and especially over the past eight games, it truly is amazing the Wild have not started to cheat, have not strayed defensively and continue to bring the type of work ethic we saw Thursday night.
We all know things aren’t easy right now and there is no margin for error. And that surely was the case against the New York Rangers as the Wild, who have scored a league-low 2.2 goals per game in 25 games since Jan.
9, twice battled back from a goal down in the third period before losing 3-2 in overtime. Advertisement But at this time of year, with four teams chasing from the rear and the Wild playing with three irreplaceable players hurt, every point matters and the Wild once again probably deserved more. So while it’s a chore to score, coach John Hynes still feels the Wild, who are now eight points up on eighth-place Calgary and ninth-place Vancouver, will be better for enduring the adversity when things really matter if the Wild are fortunate to get back to the postseason.
“The way we’ve decided to look at it is, ‘OK, the puck’s not going into the net easy for us, but are we generating chances? Are we getting outplayed and then not getting any offense? No, that’s not the case,'” Hynes said. “We’re playing some really good hockey, but we’re not getting the bounces, we’re not getting any puck luck. “But on the flip side of that, we’re playing in tight.
